The Puffer Forum

Hey peeps,

Ive been reading up on deworming etc when you get a new puffer.

Now normally youd have to put it in a quarantine tank. But do you have to do that with a Congo Puffer too? I mean its gonna be alone in the 47 gallon tank anyway. So no other fish would be involved or affected.

Would i still need to have it in a diff tank and causing more stress i guess or can I treat him/her in the main tank? Obviously using active carbon in the filter after its done.

..........so far I've never heard of a miurus puffer with parasites, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.
de-worming meds should be given by soaking the food in the med, then feeding (as opposed to adding it to the water).
treating as such in the main tank should be fine.
what are you planning to feed your puffer?
is the substrate soft, and deep enough for it to burrow in, with plenty of surface area to do so (this is very important!)?

Ah that would make treating it alot easier. Im based in the NL so ill have to ask the supplier what brand and name of meds they use here. But i guess the ingredients would be the same as the UK/USA meds.

I am planning on feeding him a lot of different things:
- Shrimps: Depending on the size of the puffer ill feed cocktail shrimps or nornal ones if hes bigger.

- Frozen and living bloodworms

- Frozen mussels

- Pond snails im breeding myself (think they're called that in English)

- Once every week or two weeks a live fish from my own smaller tank to keep his instincts alive and prevent him getting bored. Its a predator after all.

- Black worms

As for the substrate id say thats about 2inch of sand atm. I thought that was enough at least but if not then i can always add more. He is going to be in a 47 gallon tank with not too many plants. Vallisneria on the sides, some cryptocoryne lucens and two echinodorus in the back. Apart from the lucense in the middle ish and the sides and backwall he has the whole tank to dig. Im gonna add driftwood and some smooth rocks but in such a way that its not taking his space alot.

Does this all sound oke or? Really appreciate the help!

sounds good.
be sure to defrost any frozen food before feeding. and if you can, soak food in vitamins before feeding.
i'd be interested to know if the puffer shows any interest in the snails.
Congo's usually ignore them.
earthworms & crickets are good also.
as far as the meds go, it might be nice to have them on hand, but as I mentioned before, Congo's almost never have signs of parasites.
i don't like to treat with meds unless there is a compelling reason to.
when do you get him?
post a picture!

Yea the vitamins I read about. Ill have a look at that. Any tip on what brand of it is good for a puffer or just any fish vitamin product?

If he is gonna ignore the snails ill get rid of the pond snails and breed shrimps in it instead.


About the meds I have to agree. I dont like giving anything meds if its not necessary. And since im relatively new to the hobby I trust you on your word. I'll skip the treatment on him then. Instead ill try to see his belly when he ate for bumps.

Earthworms I forgot ty! Crickets tho you have to feed them with some gripping tool and do it fast i guess? Probably drown fast. How are crickets infections whise? Or are they completely fine?

And is it only the frozen food you need to add vitamins to? Cause the fish ill give him and the shrimp i might breed ill gut feed.

Lots of questions haha sorry.

Im getting a call or mail today about when they expect him and then I can get the info on his size and color etc. Maybe i get a choice. No idea. But ill post pics when I havr him! The estimated time of arrival is somewhere this week..maaaybe next.

Cant wait!

Questions are fine, and we would rather answer them now than later after problems arise!
Vita-Chem vitamins are popular, available on Amazon, Foster & Smith.....
There are other equivalents.
All food can be soaked in vitamins, the more variety you feed and the fresher the food, the less vitamins you might need.
If you feed earthworms, soak them in water to purge dirt from their gut.
Don't use yard worms if they have been subject to pesticides or fertilizer.
Get them at a bait shop if possible, crickets too (never had a problem with either).
Crickets float, and if hungry, the puffer will go after it.
I have a lazy Congo that likes to be fed from long forceps.
These fish can be picky and have preferences.
Sometimes it takes patience for them to recognize new things as food.
My Congo eats 2-3 times week.
Do you have a liquid water test kit?

True true

I"ll have a look for the vitamins then! Seeing as most of it will be frozen shrimps and bloodworms, I guess the vitamins in those arent too great. So ill definitly get that.

Earthworms and crickets are definitly on the list then. Now im not sure if should just change the snail breeding container to a shrimp one or an earthworm one but hey maybe ill get both xD. And I could just add vitamins in them too I guess in some way. Either in their earth for the worms or in the food of the crickets or on the crickets themselfs? No idea about that.

Feeding times I'm not really sure about. Im reading mixed things. Depending on the size of it how often would you feed it?
I dont know how big yours is but for example how often would you feed a like 1/2 inch one or a if i happen to get a 5 inch one would that be the 2-3 times you say you feed yours? Some people on the web say every day if its small etc but for a lurker that sounds a bit much even for a little one. Or is that normal? I dont know how often im gonna feed it as I dont know what his size it yet but if hes small ill prob try to feed him once a day and if hes bigger ill feed him once every other day/two days.

I do have a water kit yea. I use the JBL one. I actually did a test just before the guy came to fish out my remaining cory's etc. The values were:

Temp in °C: 25.7
KH °dGH: 4
PH: 6.8/7
NH4: <0,05
NO2: <0,025
NO3: Coloring wasnt really anywhere specific but if I looked at the colorsheet it was like between 1-10

You can never really get all of those needed values to completely 0 I guess. Or at least not with a jewelfilter planning to take that internal out next week and put an Eheim external pot filter on it so might be even better then!

Looking ok or not oke values?

Also I called the store that I bought the fish at and they contacted their suppliers. One of them said they dont have it yet and the others havent contacted back to them yet so hopefully ill hear it soon!

Your feeding schedule sounds good for a start.
Ammonia and nitrites should never be above ZERO.
Some nitrates will always be present.
Regular water changes minimizes that, as long as your water isn't high in nitrates to begin with.
Check your "out of the tap" water parameters.

Well I just tested my tap water and its a really really light green/yellowish color. Same as with the tank. I just tested that too and thats a really really light green/yellowish color too. Thats the NH4. The NO2 now is a almost transparant.

Both meaning NH4: <0,05 and NO2: <0,01.

I dont think I can get it any lower than that. And my gf just said theres a Otocinclus still in there...completely missed the little guy aparently O.o

But yea the values of the previous post were with 10 Cory's still in, 5 Kuhlii's and 5 Oto's. So now unless I change the filter to a external pot filter I dont think I can get it any better..well that and letting the plants grow alot bigger again. I took out 2 Echinodorus for example. So when that grows its gonna be a bit less too.

And great! The food plan is set then! ^^

Check your "out of the tap" water parameters.

Yea thats what I said. Almost transparant. Tiny bit in it aparently but thats the values i just said. The same for both tap and the tank water. Maybe i should do a few more water changes?

sorry, I missed that.
try testing some distilled water for comparison, it will have no chemicals of any kind in it.

Yea im getting an eheim external filter and an osmosis machine this afternoon! Yea im taking it serious lol.

Keep in mind--if you are going to use an RO filter for your water, you'll need to reconstitute the minerals back into the water for your FW fish.

Yea that machine wasnt an option since the tank is in the living room nowhere near a connection for it. Instead i still got the filter. The Eheim Experience 350 with added Dennerle AmmoniumStop Supra. And Dennerle nitrate stop.

Update: pretty pissed off..it can take weeks before they have the puffer. So i get my money back and im gonna look what else I would like in a 100% FW tank of about 47 gallons. Any ideas are welcome. Id like one thats either a lurker or one thats like the mbu..so a bit dog like behaviour. Problem is more the availability now :/...o and maybe this should now change to a diff topic? Its getting a bit off topic. Thanks in advance...#sadpanda